Episode VIII
by AriaGS
Summary: Rey is desperate for doing the right thing, Luke is not if sure he deserves a second chance, Leia is trying to put everything back together as she struggles with personal loss, Finn is dealing with what his truly purpose is while Kylo Ren tries to finish his training, he is still uncertain of his own destiny. Open to suggestions, no slash, no romantic pairings.
1. Promises

Rey tried her best not to trip over the rock that was right in front of her so she jumped but soon regretted her decision her feet burned at the hard impact of the floor, falling didn't sound so bad anymore, she was tired for having run up and down all the bloody stairs, her legs and feet threatened to stop working. Without another word she sat down and leaned against the cold stone, back in Jakku she had adapted herself to the piercing sun and the annoying sand that gets everywhere but on the island there was a humid weather so it was more exhausting than she had imagined.

She was having a hard time catching her breath but deep inside she was proud of herself for actually having run down and up the whole hill, she had finally made it to the top where Luke had told her he would be waiting for. He offered her a cup of water.

"Thank you" she muttered and drank it to the bottom, the cool water relaxed her and in a way it gave her strength.

"We will start your training in the ways of the force now, both your body and mind must be prepared" he told her

She nodded, Rey somehow could tell that he spoke and chose the words carefully as if he was afraid of saying the wrong thing.

Luke continued "This is usually harder than being physically prepared, so don't worry if you have trouble at first"

She nodded again and added"Thank you for agreeing to train me"

The Jedi looked at her, not in the way of making eye contact but as if he was seeing her being. "Close your eyes" he instructed gently

She obeyed and he began speaking

"The force is what gives balance to the galaxy, it is the energy that everyone and everything has. To understand it and use it in the way of a Jedi is not an easy task, there is a thin line between using it wisely and manipulate it to obtain power. A Jedi's purpose is to serve and help others not to cause fear with it. As normal people we all have weaknesses but not letting them rule you is the key to be in harmony with the force; you must abandon impulsive actions such as: hate, revenge, pride and even passion. Try to feel the force in you, embrace it, clear your mind from any other thoughts and let it guide you"

Rey was amazed at his words, she wanted to open her eyes and hug him, tell him that he wasn't a bad teacher, that he wasn't the bad one in the story but she controlled herself and tried to actually feel the force just like he had told her, just like Maz had tried to tell her. All her muscles relaxed, she no longer felt the burning in her legs and she could finally steady her breath.

"Good" Luke whispered "now move the lightsaber in front of you"

She was pretty sure there hadn't been a lightsaber in front of her but she obeyed him and tried to picture the object, but nothing happened, when she had fought Kylo Ren she was able to move the lightsaber, why not now?

"Remember" her master began saying "don't try to order the force, try to think of it as an extension of you, just as if you reached for it with your hand"

Instead of stressing out she took a deep breath and tried to concentrate, in her mind she pictured reaching for the lightsaber with her hand.

The Jedi smiled "Good, now active it"

She focused and the sound of the object was heard in response, a smile drew on her face.

"Focus Rey" he reminded her

The girl obeyed and felt how the force helped her to control her emotions, and without knowing anything else she felt a cool breeze that gave her goosebumps.

Rey opened her eyes, the daylight was replaced by the darkness of the night, the moon bearly shined. She looked around for Luke and tried to calm down but he had also disappeared alongside the lightsaber. She stood up slowly

"Master Luke?" She called

There was no answer "Luke?" She tried again, this time in a whisper

Maybe she had meditated for too long without having realized and he had gone to sleep, the force, think of the force, she told herself calm down.

The sound of a lightsaber was heard just a few stairs down, she froze, somehow she knew that wasn't Luke. A familiar face appeared and she felt a lump in her throat

"Kylo Ren" she said in disgust

He smiled kindly and deactivate his horrendous red lightsaber "It's time now" he began saying

She frowned "What are you talking about?"

"Your training has finally concluded" he said proudly, his voice tone wasn't the one she had heard in Starkiller base, he sounded happy and friendly.

The brunette stared at him, he smiled once more and handed her his weapon, she took it slowly.

"You must finish your final test" he announced

Rey frowned, he was crazy and genuinely stupid, he had just gave her the power to kill him, the weapon with which he had killed Han Solo, she would finish him the same way, she would do it for Han, for the entire Galaxy, for revenge. The lightsaber was activated and she yelled before piercing his chest, then she looked at him expecting to see his evil gaze, but instead she saw Han staring at her, the life of his eyes disappearing slowly, she screamed and deactivate the weapon before dropping it, she fell on her back and hit something, Rey turned behind her and saw Finn lifeless lying on the cold stone with the same wound as Han on his chest. She stood up in horror, she hadn't done this, it was Kylo Ren, he was the evil one!

"What have you done?" A voice said in horror

She looked back and saw Luke, his hair completely white, his gaze tired "You have killed us all"

"It wasn't me!" She kept saying but he couldn't hear her he only stared at her with tears "you failed" he was saying

She screamed as hard as she could

"Rey! REY!" Luke called her

She opened her eyes, tears filled them, the sun was still out, she looked around trying to find Finn or Han but she and Luke where the only ones there. He was beside her, his hands on her shoulders, he had shook her, she hadn't killed anyone, Finn was alive, she hadn't failed.

"What the hell was that?" She asked bitterly, failing to control her sobbing

Luke took a step back "A force vision"

"Of the future!?" She stood up horrified

Her teacher shook his head almost violently"No! Don't worry, sometimes it shows you your fears, that was it, am I right?"

She wiped away the tears and took deep breaths, it hadn't been his fault and the last thing she wanted was for her Master to feel responsible, she finally nodded.

He sat down again "It isn't easy, it never is. When I started my training with Master Yoda I saw Darth Vader in front of me, without thinking twice I killed him, but then instead of seeing his face inside the helmet I saw mine. Back then I didn't know he was my father but there was a strong connection, what I truly feared wasn't defeating him, it was becoming him"

Rey sighed and finally sat down and told him her vision, but she omitted the part in which she saw him, instead she said a voice had told her she had failed.

He listened carefully and once she was finished he asked "What do you think it means?"

Rey blinked a couple of times unsure of her own answer, she finally said "I am not afraid of Kylo Ren, I am afraid I will make the same mistakes"

The Jedi nodded "Now tell me, why do you think you will follow his path?"

She cleared her throat "I am no one and he was the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, he was someone and still... he turned to the dark side, if he with having everything turned bad, how am I supposed to resist?"

Luke rubbed his temples and sighed "Leia and Han tried their best to build a new world for their son but Ben didn't see it that way, he felt alone, and someone else offered him a way out. Even when Leia sent him to me I couldn't teach him much, he had little patience and was very impulsive...but I should have done more" the last he said more to himself

"It's not your fault"

"I wish I could believe that"

Rey looked down "I don't want to make the same mistakes"

"I promise that I won't let you"

She looked at him and they smiled at each other "Thank you Master Luke"

"It's the least I can do after everything that has happened" he answered

She frowned but before she could ask anything else he stood up "I'll see you tomorrow"

Rey nodded and watched him walk away, she wondered when he would truly tell her something about her past.


	2. Hope

Her training was going just great, even Luke had told her she was surprisingly skilled in the physical part

"Back in Jakku I had to take care of myself" she had explained him

When she first arrived he hadn't said much to her, right after she had explained him all that had happened with the map and Starkiller base including Han Solo's death, he had looked the other way so she continued and told him that General Organa had sent her to take him back as soon as possible but he only said that he had been expecting her, Rey guessed it had something to do with the force so she thought it wasn't a good time to ask questions. Luke had told her that her presence in the force was really strong so she blurted out that she wanted to be trained

"I'm not a teacher, at least not anymore" he had said

"I learn fast!" She had argued and before he walked away she almost whispered desperately "please"

He scanned her with his blue eyes what appeared to be a decade and finally agreed, since then, they hadn't had an actual conversation that didn't involve the classes, until now.

They sat down in his small house which was more like a cave really, it had a small improvised kitchen, a table with stones that were used as chairs and a bed which had been made with the seat of an x-wing, she had to admit that in a way it felt kind of cozy.

"What did you do exactly?" He asked her

"Well because I couldn't do much honestly, I used to go inside the destroyed ships from battles to try finding useful pieces and then sell them to Unkar Plutt in exchange for rations. I even managed to save some money and build myself a speeder, it was junk but pretty fast"

"Who's Unkar Plutt?" Luke asked her suddenly interested

"An alien" she explained "he had this huge collection of engines he would sell to anyone that he could. He wasn't exactly a nice fellow, but he was one of the few people that you could do business with, not many people live and stay in Jakku"

He nodded and offered her some sort of tea, she accepted and he moved to the kitchen to begin making it "Tatooine wasn't that different, my uncle and aunt had some sort of farm, ever since I was a child I knew I didn't belong there but they loved it, after all it was the planet they had been born in"

She stared at the table, Luke was actually telling her something personal, she didn't want to look too eager to hear his biography, which she was.

He returned and gave her the mug, she reached for it and took a zip, a flavor of plants filled her mouth, it wasn't that bad but it could have been better

"You didn't like it" her Master pointed out

She blushed with embarrassment but he smiled and told her "Don't worry, I myself hate it, but I guess I have gotten used to it"

"How long have you been here?" Rey asked

His gaze darkened "Quite a while"

She didn't push the subject and tried a different thing "Chewbacca told me you are a really good pilot"

He smiled "I was, there's a chance I still am but I need to practice, what about you?"

She smiled "I don't like to brag but I'm pretty good. When my friend Finn and I scaped from Jakku I had to fly the Millennium Falcon while he dealed with the shooting"

He arched his eyebrows impressed "By yourself?"

She nodded and took another zip of the tea.

He looked down at his mug with a smile, he was probably remembering something "Han loved that ship, he never let me fly it and I couldn't bribe Chewie into letting me try without Han's permission, he's too loyal"

Both their smiles became melancholic, Rey had known Han Solo for a very short time, much more shorter than she had wanted it to last but he had meant so much to her.

He suddenly stood up "Do you think I could go to the Falcon and look for something?"

"Of course" she answered right away, Luke hadn't wanted to go near the Millennium Falcon and only waved to Chewie from a long distance, she slept in the ship so she had asked the wookie the possible reason but Chewbacca had said that Luke probably felt guilty for what had happened to Han obviously Chewie told her he would never blame him.

Luke suddenly stopped, likely because he remembered his reason to stay away from the Falcon but Rey knew that it was now or never so she practically pushed him out of the house "We should hurry!" She started saying

The Jedi and his padawan began walking down the stairs

"Did you build the stairs?" she asked trying to distract him

"Some of them" he answered coldly

She decided it wasn't wise to test his good disposition so she stayed quiet

The Falcon was now visible, and it looked like Chewie was fixing it or at least trying to do so.

Luke stopped walking as if he wanted to turn around and return to his cave but after several attempts to make him go down she wasn't going to give up, not when they were so close

"Chewbacca!" She shouted high enough to get his attention

The wookie looked over at them and shouted a greeting.

Luke waved slowly and before he could do something about it Rey took his arm and pulled him to the ship.

Now that he was face to face with Chewbacca he realized he should have come down way before, his old friend did nothing more than hug him and tell him he had been missed, the Jedi should have known that Chewie would have never blamed him, maybe it was the memory of his past he was truly scared to confront.

Rey stared at them grinning, she was so proud of her success "so what are we going to look for?"

The Jedi turned to her "There's a chance that my old training device is still in the Falcon, I never took it out"

Chewie mentioned there were a few things that he hadn't been through around the hangar and that they should try there.

Luke waited for her to enter first, after all he hadn't seen the inside of the ship in a while, when he was finally in a wave of memories flew around him. He saw Rey staring at him, she quickly looked away

"So, what does the device look like?"

Luke walked to the hangar and saw several bags, he lifted one up to start searching "It's a small metallic ball"

She frowned and sat on the floor to be able to search easily.

Almost immediately R2D2 rolled from one door and beeped excitedly at Luke, the Jedi dropped the bag and walked to his old friend "R2!" he called grinning

The droid beeped an answer and he laughed "Yes, it has been a while my friend"

Rey, half searched half stared at the scene in front of her, finally she gave up on the bags and looked around the room, suddenly she saw an object that looked like the device Luke was searching, it was right below the seat, she reached for it and stood up "Is this what you were looking for?"

He smiled "Yes, thank you" and took it

She saw him pressing some buttons and then the object began to fly

"Take the lightsaber out" he told her

She obeyed and as soon as she activated it, the sphere shot a laser at her, without thinking twice Rey hit the laser with her weapon.

"It's for practice, they aren't actually lasers" Luke told her

She nodded and continued to hit the lasers not even missing one

"Hold it for a minute" Luke told her before he moved to another room just to return a few minutes later with what appeared to be a helmet. "Put this on your head" he instructed

"But I won't be able to see" Rey added

"That's the point"

She shrugged and put it on, yep, she couldn't see a thing.

"I want you to do the same thing now"

She was going to protest but he interrupted "Remember the force Rey, feel it around you, let it guide you, let the force be your eyes"

So she followed his instructions, she managed to hit 25 out of 30 lasers.

The padawan took her helmet off excitedly, training was going great! She started to feel confident, she might be able to defeat Kylo Ren after all.


	3. Doubts

Believe it or not Rey was frustrated, not by the fact that Luke had told her they would return to the Resistance base when he considered it best, not even because of the stupid island with it's stupid long stairs and it's bloody humid weather; she was frustrated because she had actually thought that a duel with lightsabers was going to be easy.

Luke, and old man had almost killed her 5 times and sent her flying backwards about 10 other times, and he wasn't even trying that hard!

"Again" he told her

She laid on the floor, soaking with sweat and completely dirty because of all the mud, yes, she was frustrated.

"Rey?" He called her

She rolled her eyes and sat up "Could we please take a break?"

Luke nodded"Ten minutes"

And she fainted

Rey finally woke up with a terrible headache, when her sight focused she realized she was inside the Millennium Falcon laying on the bed she would sleep in, instead of getting up she decided to rest for a couple of more minutes. Earlier that day she had gone to Luke's "house" for training and given her good results he had proposed her to start the combat training so she accepted excitedly. They had first only used the lightsabers and it had been quite good after all she had good skills and experience with hand weapons but as soon as Luke started using the force she had struggled to keep up, Rey simply forgot to use the force and when she tried to concentrate Luke would take advantage of her attempts on concentrating and that means she ended up falling backwards or him placing his lightsaber just inches away from her face. The padawan hadn't protested even once but now she was begging to feel irritated. Finally she stood up, all her muscles ached and she noticed her hands were covered with mud so she quickly cleaned them with some tissue she found and walked to the cockpit where her Master and Chewbacca chatted cheerfully.

Noticing her presence the Wookie excused himself and left them alone, not before reassuring her what a wonderful job she was doing

"Thanks Chewie" she muttered

Luke smiled to her and invited her to sit down so she could drink some water, she accepted and relaxed just as soon the cold water touched her lips, before she knew her glass was empty "Thank you"

"How do you feel?" Luke asked

Rey blinked a couple of times, she had to bite her tongue to not be rude, he was being kind but she was too irritated at the moment to return his courtesy "I'm fine" she managed to answer, it was cold but not rude "we can continue practicing"

Luke nodded and after a few seconds said "No"

The girl frowned trying to process what he had just said. Was it a joke or maybe he was having second thoughts about training her?

"No?" She asked alarmed and he simply nodded "Why not?!" She yelled standing up "how am I supposed to defeat Kylo Ren if I don't practice?! How long am I gonna stay here? I've got things to do! My friends are with the Resistance and they are counting on me!"

Luke motioned her to sit back down, he looked so peaceful she became more angry "Rey, calm down"

She obeyed and he cleared his throat to start again, this time more serious"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine" she repeated"really, I can do this"

The Jedi's gaze darkened "Why are you here?"

"I'm here because I fainted from exhaustion, but I'm fine now" she answered

"No, I mean why are you HERE, in this planet, in this island with me?"

The girl became speechless, why was he doing this? "Your sister... General Organa, sent me here to get you back"

Luke scratched his beard "Fair enough, but why did you ask me to train you? Did Leia told you I would?"

He looked calm, she knew he wasn't mad but that look made her feel uneasy, and the worst part was that she wasn't even sure of the answer "No, General Organa didn't say anything, it's just that..." she made a pause and he encouraged her to continue "well I realized that I have the force and I thought that..." she tried to start again "Maz Kanata gave me your lightsaber and told me it was calling me and that you... you knew about it and I thought that...I" she closed her eyes which were suddenly filled with tears "I don't know, okay? I don't know..."

His silence made her feel foolish so she wiped the tears off her face and opened her eyes. To her surprise Luke stared at her with a sad smile and watery eyes "That's how you know you have the force. You don't chose it, IT chooses you"


End file.
